One year after its introduction, Ford Motor Company’s novel MyEnergi Lifestyle® is showing how homeowners can save money on appliances and fuel through energy-efficient living. Now, MyEnergi Lifestyle 2.0 looks to raise the savings by helping homeowners store their own energy.

MyEnergi Lifestyle, a Ford Motor Company collaboration with Eaton, Infineon, SunPower and Whirlpool, retrofitted the homes of two families with energy-efficient appliances and solar panels, as well as a Ford C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid vehicle. The program set out to demonstrate how a typical American family can significantly lower its electricity costs while limiting its impact on the environment.

In addition to using home renewables, smart charging and smart appliances, Ford is announcing at the 2014 International CES that MyEnergi Lifestyle 2.0 will demonstrate the benefits of integrating additional tools, such as the ability to store energy within the home after it is captured by solar panels. Customers will have more ways to optimize their energy use, and power they can tap to keep their homes running during outages. Ford is demonstrating an energy storage system from Sharp at CES as an example of what consumers can use

“The first year of the MyEnergi Lifestyle program showed us homeowners can save money and reduce their carbon footprint by adopting certain energy usage habits,” said Mike Tinskey, Ford global director of vehicle electrification and infrastructure. “We’re excited about advancing the program further to include battery storage for even smarter energy consumption.”

2013 MyEnergi Lifestyle winners – where they are now

For Susan Berry and her family, the last six months have been almost too good to be true. Berry, of Southern California, won her place in the MyEnergi Lifestyle program during a Katie Couric Show Mother’s Day special. The show surprised Berry, who was in the studio audience, with a MyEnergi Lifestyle home retrofit that included energy-efficient appliances, solar panels and a Ford C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid vehicle.

Simultaneously, Ford and the MyEnergi Lifestyle collaboration launched a nationwide contest for another lucky family to receive a MyEnergi Lifestyle home retrofit. The winners were Ben and Lindsay Sattler of Colorado. Their home was retrofitted in December, and the Sattlers turned in the keys to their Toyota Corolla in favor of a fuel-efficient Ford C-MAX Energi.

The MyEnergi Lifestyle model predicted 60 percent savings in monthly energy bills and 55 percent savings in CO2emissions. The families have already begun to see savings. Examples of efficiencies include:

Berry family:

· More than $1,200 saved in annual fuel costs with their C-MAX Energi

· Expect to save more than $300 annually from their new solar panel system; the system offsets more than 70 percent of the energy used in their home

· More than 25 percent reduction in energy costs and CO2 due to the installation of their new energy-efficient Whirlpool refrigerator

Sattler family:

· More than $1,200 saved in annual fuel costs with their C-MAX Energi; expect to save an additional $95 per year by charging their C-MAX Energi during off-peak hours

· Expect to save $135 per year with their new energy-efficient Whirlpool freezer

· The Sattlers expect increased efficiencies once their solar panel system is activated

Ford and its business associates worked with researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology to create a computer model that calculates the electricity usage of a typical single family in their home for one year, and the associated savings with moving to an energy-efficient lifestyle. The cumulative results predict a 60 percent reduction in energy costs and more than 9,000 kilograms of CO2 (55 percent reduction) saved. If every home in the United States were to implement these energy-saving technologies, it would be the equivalent of taking all the homes in California, New York and Texas – 32 million homes – off the power grid.

The Green Living Guy, Seth Leitman is a green living expert, celebrity and Editor of the McGraw-Hill, TAB Green Guru Guides. Seth is also an Author, Radio Host, Reporter, Writer and a Environmental Consultant on green living. The Green Living Guy writes about green living, green lighting, the green guru guides and more. Seth's books range from:
# Build Your Own Electric Vehicle by Bob Brant and Seth Leitman (2nd and 3rd editions)
# Build Your Own Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle by Seth Leitman
# Build Your Own Electric Motorcycle by Carl Vogel
# Green Lighting by Seth Leitman, Brian Clark Howard and Bill Brinsky
# Solar Power For Your Home by David Findley
# Renewable Energies For Your Home by Russel Gehrke
# Do-it-Yourself Home Energy Audits by David Findley
# Build Your Own Small Wind Power System by Brian Clark Howard and Kevin Shea
# and more green living books to follow.

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One comment

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isn’t it nice to see your living area, a glimpse of the dining room, and maybe even a view
from your living room window. So the next time you are looking to
change your Refrigerator it really would be a good idea to take a
look at the line of Videocon refrigerators.